A Game of Duels (Valkubus)
by PristineWonderment
Summary: Tamsin watches helplessly as Bo duels against Mr Whitman in Brazenwood. What happens comes as a surprise to them both. Based during Fae-ge Against The Machine. A Valkubus one shot.


**So, this is just a quick thing I stirred up after watching this episode again. I had too many Valkubus feels to express them all.**

Normally, Tamsin was always one for a good duel. She loved watching the two competitors stare at each other, each growing beads of sweat on their foreheads as their hands twitched at their sides, both eager to draw their weapon. She loved the doubt that gnawed at them, the determination, the fear. She loved watching them squirm before the first shot. The few seconds after the draw were never the best part; they simply drew, and in an instant one of them -occasionally both- was dead. Watching the split second it took for someone's life to slip out of their eyes was never fun to watch, but Tamsin had to admit it could be fascinating. Her fascination over death was long since gone, but that was simply because she had seen and caused far too much of it to ever take any small amount of pleasure from it. Death was not a game. But the waiting before the draw? That was the game. That was the interesting part - the fascination with duels. The sick, little game each competitor played with each other, trying to throw the other off with doubt or empathy.

It was for this reason that Valkyries were never good opponents in duels. They had the upper hand – they could intimidate you and make you doubt yourself before you even had a chance to accept the duel. Accepting one was suicide, but winning one?

Winning a duel against a Valkyrie would make you a very feared man.

So, yes, usually Tamsin was always one for a duel. Today was not one of those days. Bo was going up against Mr. Whitman, a man of Brazenwood who was abusing the tears of a Squonk, and, frankly, Tamsin did not like her chances when the bastard split into two. It was cheating. She had tried to interfere but the man had held her back, and Tamsin guessed the sick-minded assholes of Brazenwood did things a little differently than the rest of the Dark.

Tamsin had tried to offer some encouraging words. "You're smart, you're fast, and you're a hell of a lot cuter than him." is what she had said to Bo, and she believed it may have actually enthused her. The two had shared a look, and Tamsin believed it may have worked.

Yet now, as she was staring at the two and watching their hands twitch, she only felt nervous and unsure. Those were two emotions Tamsin never was. They were what the Valkyrie gave to others, never to feel themselves, and again she felt her hostility rise towards the brunette who made her feel so out of place with her kind. It was too hard to keep up her hostility when she was so worried about Bo. She needed Bo.

"It's time to put that cricket down for good." Bo mumbled, mainly to herself, and Tamsin felt herself cock an eyebrow in response. She trusted Bo with her life and knew she could pull through this, but that was a weird thing to say. Jesus, Bo was odd.

Bo was perfectly odd.

The duel was over in an instant; Bo twisting her body around and sharply gliding the knife straight into the man behind her. It was Whitman, and, just like that, his glamour was gone. He was dead, and Bo was still breathing.

Tamsin felt the heavy weight on her chest lift, like she could breath again, and the smile that filled her face was not voluntary. The flutter in her head and the swirling nerves of her stomach propelled her towards Bo, her body suddenly not feeling like her own, and she immediately pressed her lips against the brunettes. Bo was expecting a hug, but now her arms hung there loosely, and as Tamsin cupped Bo's face in her hands and Bo felt the pounding erupt in her chest, Bo gently placed her hands on Tamsin's arms. Her touch felt soft and gentle and caring. It felt powerful and purposeful and meaningful, and Bo felt the clouded attraction she held for Tamsin clear, her heart feeling what she demanded it not to.

Tamsin told herself she would never again let her lips touch Bo's – not after she had let the Succubus feed from her when freeing Kenzi and she had felt something real. At the time she had responded aggressively, claiming that Bo could "Feed off of me, not suck me dry!" and whilst that was true and Bo had left Tamsin weak, she had wanted to do it for longer. The hate and the aggression that she felt for Bo, it all stemmed from the same place – attraction. And now that Tamsin was finally kissing her with no strings attached, feeling the Succubus' lips and heartbeat and her warm hands as they pressed against Tamsin's skin, she could only panic at the release of emotion and push Bo off of her.

Tamsin knew her look was one of shock, and she wasn't surprised. That sudden burst of emotion - the undeniable heat that passed between them - it gave too much away. Bo could not know that Tamsin liked her; it would ruin everything. There was no doubt in her mind that her eyes and her furrowed eyebrows, the way her expression just begged for more of Bo, gave her away.

But Bo felt the same, and her being a Succubus meant it was hard for her to hide her lust as easy as Tamsin could. The two knew, to some extent, how the other felt – that they shared some sort of attraction, at the very least.

All either wanted was to press their lips together again.

Lauren was forgotten.


End file.
